The Kansas City Chiefs entered Super Bowl 59 eyeing a three-peat, having already beaten this same Philadelphia Eagles team in Super Bowl 57. So, they had every reason to feel confident. But boy, that went out the window fast.
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The Birds jumped all over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the first half, heading into the locker room to the sweet sounds of Kendrick Lamar and a commanding 24–0 lead. By the end of the third quarter, that lead ballooned up to 34-0—the fifth-largest lead in Super Bowl history.
Not only were the Eagles winning by a lot, but they were really dominating every play. They were taking the will right out of their opponents. The performance was so one-sided that, as he recently told Kay Adams on Up & Adams, longtime Philly edge rusher Brandon Graham couldn’t help but laugh on the sidelines.
Graham was by far the longest-tenured Eagle on that Super Bowl roster, having been selected 13th overall by Philly in the 2010 draft. He had been there for Philly’s first Super Bowl win, an epic thriller against Tom Brady‘s New England Patriots that Graham punctuated with a strip sack of the GOAT in the final minutes. He didn’t have to wait until the final whistle to celebrate against the Chiefs, though.
“I was laughing. We were on the sideline trying to hold it in too,” Graham recalled.
“We felt good going into this game because we had a great week of practice. The belief that we were gonna win that game, we [had] that. Because of how we showed it every day, and when it started happening, that’s why we tried to stay low and level.”
Brandon Graham on the Eagles being up 34-0 against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX
"I was laughing. We were on the sideline trying to hold it in" 😂@heykayadams | @brandongraham55 pic.twitter.com/9Y44kXzT3T
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) April 9, 2025
Graham had an up-and-down 2024 season. After managing just 3.0 sacks in 2023, he had 3.5 in the first 11 games of the 2024 campaign, at which point he tore his triceps. That was supposed to keep him out for the rest of the season, but he rehabbed hard enough to be activated for the Super Bowl. He played 13 snaps and contributed one solo tackle to the effort against the Chiefs.
Unfortunately, he re-tore his triceps during the game and had to undergo surgery, which was a contributing factor to his decision to retire a month after winning his second ring. Having a veteran like Graham in the mix for the two weeks of Super Bowl prep surely helped.
But as Graham said, the whole team was ready, and they had been very intentional about preparing for this opponent and this particular stage.
“Don’t get into that game of refs this, refs that. Let’s just work [on] our technique; let’s get ready for this, and we can control what we can. Make sure at halftime, we are not watching no halftime shows, all that stuff, let’s stay focused,” the star DE said.
“All that little stuff that goes into the Super Bowl, the distractions. I think we gave ourselves the best shot because of coach Sirianni talking about those things… We knew we were prepared for that type of game if we all stayed focused.”
Though Graham has departed (along with Josh Sweat and Mekhi Becton, and Darius Slay), the Eagles were able to keep most of that championship-winning core together for 2025. No other team has improved to the point of surpassing the talent level on Philadelphia’s roster.
The Birds are definitely on track for a strong shot at back-to-back titles this year.
